Impacted???

[_Sam_]

Hey everyone, as of now my snake is perfectly fine...however, last night I bought this thing called an 'Arctic Mice "mouse defroster"'. It actually works really good! It's like this clay thing that you microwave water in, and then put this tray thing inside of it to set the mouse on...anyways, I guess I left the mouse in there too long, because when I fed it to my snake the mouse like....exploded. It was really nasty. Anyways, stupid me fed the snake in his cage with aspen bedding. ((usually no bedding is ingested so I don't worry about it, although I think I'm going to start feeding sperately like I'm supposed to :uhoh: )) Anyways, finally to the point....a bunch of the bedding stuck to the muse guts. I tried to get it off of the mouse but the snake kept jerking his head away and it was too hard to get, and soon enough he had the mouse down. I was just wondering, how do you tell if a snake is impacted? I'm worried that he might get sick. I've read that the back end of the snake gets kind of big, but I was wondering if thats the only sign?

[sargeoif]

tsk, tsk, yous hould always feed your snakes in a seperate container if your using aspen, snakes can not digest the stuff. I'd keep an eye on it to see if it poops and examine it if you don't see the aspen then you might want to take him to a vet.

[Susan]

As long as your snake didn't ingest too much aspen, it will probably pass it just fine. Just keep a close eye on him/her for the next week.

Just curious, how could the mouse explode when it's just being thawed on a tray over hot water? I could see it exploding if you put the actual mouse in the microwave to thaw it...

And have you seen this? I don't mean to hurt your feelings, and I'm glad you like the product, but I would rather have seen you spend your money on a CD or something.
http://www.cornsnakes.com/forums/showthread.php?t=52093

[tyflier]

Susan, I just busted out laughing when I read what he was using to defrost his mice... :bang:

I'm sorry...I don't mean to laugh at other people's expense...but it is funny. :sidestep:

_Sam_

Just keep a close eye on your snake, and make sure it defecates in the next few days. I wouldn't worry too much about it, but definitely keep your eye on your snake and make sure (s)he defecates as normal...

[ssmith_1187]

I need to ask…why not just use a cup of hot tap water??? My tap water will reach 115-120 degrees which is plenty to defrost a mouse.

It actually works really good!

I guess I left the mouse in there too long, because when I fed it to my snake the mouse like....exploded.

Without trying to sound condescending, it couldn’t have worked too well if your mouse exploded.

Regards,
Steve

[Nanci]

I guess some people just don't like to get the mice wet- I don't know why... :shrugs: It's not like you can't dry them off.

Nanci

[ssmith_1187]

It's not like you can't dry them off.

A couple of sheets of paper towel and mine look they just stepped out of the salon :)

Regards,
Steve

[Susan]

You can also just put them in a ziplock bag and then put them in the hot water.

[susang]

Well, I'm done laughing :rolleyes:
I guess my only question about this is why people take advice after the fact. With an almost casual, I won't do this again. If you knew it wasn't a good idea to feed on bedding, why did you do it? Just my thoughts, susan

[_Sam_]

Well it always seemed that when I floated a plastic bag with the mouse in it over warm water it always took forever. And the mosue exploded when my snake started constricting it. Any I have extra money, so why not?

[antsterr]

I've had mice explode to, it's pretty gross. If your snake pretty large and the bedding is very fine then I'd not worry too much about it.

[sargeoif]

cup + water = desfrosted mouse

[Okeetee_Corn_Snakes]

Lol, if I had extra money I would just buy more mice....But then again...I also used plastic containers for moist hides before I bought the clay caves. :shrugs:

Sorry you spent your money on the little contraption that really doesn't work. But its only ten bucks eh?

[_Sam_]

No I really do like it, and I'm glad i bought it, I just left the mouse in too long I guess as I got sidetracked...gosh, there's more bullying here sometimes than in my high school! :) but thanks for your help guys...I'll keep an eye on my snake. He went to the bathroom earlier today, so I'm guessing thats a good sign even if its from his last meal.

[Corny Noob]

I'm just curious, how long is "too long"? You said it took too long to defrost in a baggy placed in water, I'm just honestly wondering why. I mean I leave it for about 20 minutes...but that's 20 minutes I spend bonding with my snake :shrugs:

[tyflier]

If you remove ALL of the air from the baggie, it shouldn't take any longer to defrost than it does sitting on a platform in a cup of microwaved water...If not, it takes longer because the water needs to heat up the air before it can start defrosting the mouse.

As far as having "extra" money, and buying this thing "just because"...there are plenty of things to spend money on regarding snakes that aren't a complete waste of money. Most of them are not necessities, but still fun and useful. IMO...the Arctic Mice Melter(or whatever it's called) isn't one of them. Coffee cups are cheaper, cooler to look at, and work just as well. You could even fashion some sort of platform and a lid, and stick the cup in the mocrowave before using it if you wanted to...

But that's just me...perhaps I'm different...

[susang]

I guess my question remains, not why you bought this thing, but why you fed your snake on bedding when you knew the potential problems? :shrugs: susan

[_Sam_]

When I use this thing you're supposed to leave the mouse in it for around 6 minutes while I guess the steam thaws it. And when I usually feel him in the cage he never has ingested aspen before...usually the mouse is placed on top of his hide or on a plastic lid inside his cage, but this particular time it didnt work out so well :shrugs:

[ssmith_1187]

I truly hope he turns out to be OK.

Chalk this up to a “lessons learned” :)

Regards,
Steve

[kathylove]

I have to give credit for trying something new - you never know when it will be the "next big thing". Nothing ventured, nothing gained! I might have gotten one myself if I had seen it, just to evaluate it for my customers. But it sounds like it probably is not worth the money. Now that you know about this site, you can always run new items by others who might have tried them already to avoid wasting money and time.

Most of the aspen will probably pass ok, and hopefully all will eventually. Just keep an eye on him. For future use, if you run into the same problem again, just have scissors and paper towel handy when feeding. If your snake has a problem for any reason, just cut the mouse in half while he is eating, and slip a paper towel or plate underneath the cut mouse. That would hopefully remove the aspen. Gross, but it works.

[Nanci]

You could probably take the snake and run to the faucet with it, too...

Kathy... :-puke01: Snip the mouse in half! It's just easier to feed in a tub if you don't have a billion snakes. It gives me a chance to clean and change the water and all that, while the snake is somewhere else.

Nanci

[_Sam_]

Thanks for your help guys for dealing with me, the stupid snake noob. :dunce:

[Drizzt80]

Sam:
1. It's your money, do what you want with it, others be-damned. (By some 'arguments' here, who needs a crotch-rocket when a moped will get you to the same place . . . and probably safer?!)
2. Your mouse exploded due to overheating. I've done it (often) myself, so thawing out mice isn't any kind of "expert" routine. Don't worry about it.
3. I've fed on aspen exclusively for my juvenile through adult snakes and have had zero impaction problems (knock on wood). If you are aware of the consequences and eventualities you make your decisions for yourself. I do keep my hatchlings on paper towels until they begin accepting fuzzies.
4. Be informed, meaning research all possibilities, and make your decisions based on that information. Don't be bullied into making your decisions because you are going to find many differences of opinion on many different subjects.

:)
D80

[kathylove]

Great advice Drizzt80!

Yes, it probably is a lot easier and safer to feed in a separate cup / tub, especially if you don't have too many snakes. I put all of my babies in cups, but not my adults (would take too many large tubs).

Back when I used to keep clutches or half clutches of babies together until their first meal, I would throw pinks in and carefully watch them eat together (for their first meal). The free-for-all seemed to stimulate feeding response. But as you would expect, many took decided to start on opposite sides of the same pink. So I would cut the pink in half. More trouble than it was worth! So now I separate them before they even get their first meal. But if for some reason somebody did not want to feed in a tub, the scissors should be kept handy.

[MegF.]

I've overheated plenty of mice in hot water and they've exploded too. My snakes actually seem to like the stinky guts better. Yuk...go figure. My babies are housed in seperate deli containers on paper towel so that I can feed them in there to avoid stress. Easy to clean and I can keep track easily of who ate and who didn't just by glancing in the cup.